Goodbye to All That

Shoot the Chutes being torn down
Shoot the Chutes is torn down in 1950, and the Big Dipper follows in 1955.
George Whitney closes Sutro’s swimming pools in 1954, and Whitney himself
dies in the winter of 1958. Without "The Barnum of the Golden Gate" as
ringleader of the show, Playland isn’t ever quite the same.

The Sutro Baths building burns down in 1966, and Playland closes forever on September 4, 1972.

The last day of the Fun House
When Playland closes, the carousel is in danger of being broken up and the animals sold individually for maximum profit. Carousel preservationist Marianne Stevens buys it, restores it, and eventually installs it in a Long Beach, California mall. But this is a carousel of destiny.

In the 1990s, the City of San Francisco buys it back, restores it again, and relocates the horses and menagerie animals to the Yerba Buena Gardens, in the heart of the City.